The present invention relates generally to the mass spectroscopic analysis of chemical samples and more particularly to time-of-flight mass spectrometry. More specifically, a means and method are described for the analysis of ionized species in a spectrometer containing two or more reflecting device such that ions can be reflected back and forth between these devices, thereby extending the flight time of the ions without extending the length of the flight tube.
The present invention relates generally to ion beam handling and more particularly to ion deflection and ion selection in time-of-flight mass spectrometers (TOFMS). The apparatus and method of mass analysis described herein is an enhancement of the techniques that are referred to in the literature relating to mass spectrometry.
The analysis of ions by mass spectrometers is important, as mass spectrometers are instruments that are used to determine the chemical structures of molecules. In these instruments, molecules become positively or negatively charged in an ionization source and the masses of the resultant ions are determined in vacuum by a mass analyzer that measures their mass/charge (m/z) ratio. Mass analyzers come in a variety of types, including magnetic field (B), combined (double-focusing) electrical (E) and magnetic field (B), quadrupole (Q), ion cyclotron resonance (ICR), quadrupole ion storage trap, and time-of-flight (TOF) mass analyzers, which are of particular importance with respect to the invention disclosed herein. Each mass spectrometric method has a unique set of attributes. Thus, TOFMS is one mass spectrometric method that arose out of the evolution of the larger field of mass spectrometry.
The analysis of ions by TOFMS is, as the name suggests, based on the measurement of the flight times of ions from an initial position to a final position. Ions which have the same initial kinetic energy but different masses will separate when allowed to drift through a field free region.
Ions are conventionally extracted from an ion source in small packets. The ions acquire different velocities according to the mass-to-charge ratio of the ions. Lighter ions will arrive at a detector prior to high mass ions. Determining the time-of-flight of the ions across a propagation path permits the determination of the masses of different ions. The propagation path may be circular or helical, as in cyclotron resonance spectrometry, but typically linear propagation paths are used for TOFMS applications.
TOFMS is used to form a mass spectrum for ions contained in a sample of interest. Conventionally, the sample is divided into packets of ions that are launched along the propagation path using a pulse-and-wait approach. In releasing packets, one concern is that the lighter and faster ions of a trailing packet will pass the heavier and slower ions of a preceding packet. Using the traditional pulse-and-wait approach, the release of an ion packet as timed to ensure that the ions of a preceding packet reach the detector before any overlap can occur. Thus, the periods between packets is relatively long. If ions are being generated continuously, only a small percentage of the ions undergo detection. A significant amount of sample material is thereby wasted. The loss in efficiency and sensitivity can be reduced by storing ions that are generated between the launching of individual packets, but the storage approach carries some disadvantages.
Resolution is an important consideration in the design and operation of a mass spectrometer for ion analysis. The traditional pulse-and-wait approach in releasing packets of ions enables resolution of ions of different masses by separating the ions into discernible groups. However, other factors are also involved in determining the resolution of a mass spectrometry system. xe2x80x9cSpace resolutionxe2x80x9d is the ability of the system to resolve ions of different masses despite an initial spatial position distribution within an ion source from which the packets are extracted. Differences in starting position will affect the time required for traversing a propagation path. xe2x80x9cEnergy resolutionxe2x80x9d is the ability of the system to resolve ions of different mass despite an initial velocity distribution. Different starting velocities will affect the time required for traversing the propagation path.
In addition, two or more mass analyzers may be combined in a single instrument to form a tandem mass spectrometer (MS/MS, MS/MS/MS, etc.). The most common MS/MS instruments are four sector instruments (EBEB or BEEB), triple quadrupoles (QQQ), and hybrid instruments (EBQQ or BEQQ). The mass/charge ratio measured for a molecular ion is used to determine the molecular weight of a compound. In addition, molecular ions may dissociate at specific chemical bonds to form fragment ions. Mass/charge ratios of these fragment ions are used to elucidate the chemical structure of the molecule. Tandem mass spectrometers have a particular advantage for structural analysis in that the first mass analyzer (MS1) can be used to measure and select molecular ion from a mixture of molecules, while the second mass analyzer (MS2) can be used to record the structural fragments. In tandem instruments, a means is provided to induce fragmentation in the region between the two mass analyzers. The most common method employs a collision chamber filled with an inert gas, and is known as collision induced dissociation CID. Such collisions can be carried out at high (5-10 keV) or low (10-100 eV) kinetic energies, or may involve specific chemical (ion-molecule) reactions. Fragmentation may also be induced using laser beams (photodissociation), electron beams (electron induced dissociation), or through collisions with surfaces (surface induced dissociation). It is possible to perform such an analysis using a variety of types of mass analyzers including TOF mass analysis.
In a TOFMS instrument, molecular and fragment ions formed in the source are accelerated to a kinetic energy:                               e          ⁢                      xe2x80x83                    ⁢          V                =                              1            2                    ⁢          m          ⁢                      xe2x80x83                    ⁢                      v            2                                              (        1        )            
where e is the elemental charge, V is the potential across the source/accelerating region, m is the ion mass, and v is the ion velocity. These ions pass through a field-free drift region of length L with velocities given by equation 1. The time required for a particular ion to traverse the drift region is directly proportional to the square root of the mass/charge ratio:                     t        =                  L          ⁢                                    m                              2                ⁢                e                ⁢                                  xe2x80x83                                ⁢                V                                                                        (        2        )            
Conversely, the mass/charge ratios of ions can be determined from their flight times according to the equation:                               m          e                =                              a            ⁢                          xe2x80x83                        ⁢                          t              2                                +          b                                    (        3        )            
where a and b are constants which can be determined experimentally from the flight times of two or more ions of known mass/charge ratios.
Generally, TOF mass spectrometers have limited mass resolution. This arises because there may be uncertainties in the time that the ions were formed (time distribution), in their location in the accelerating field at the time they were formed (spatial distribution), and in their initial kinetic energy distributions prior to acceleration (energy distribution).
The first commercially successful TOFMS was based on an instrument described by Wiley and McLaren in 1955 (Wiley, W. C.; McLaren, I. H., Rev. Sci. Instrumen. 26 1150 (1955)). That instrument utilized electron impact (EI) ionization (which is limited to volatile samples) and a method for spatial and energy focusing known as time-lag focusing. In brief, molecules are first ionized by a pulsed (1-5 microsecond) electron beam. Spatial focusing was accomplished using multiple-stage acceleration of the ions. In the first stage, a low voltage (xe2x88x92150 V) drawout pulse is applied to the source region that compensates for ions formed at different locations, while the second (and other) stages complete the acceleration of the ions to their final kinetic energy (xe2x88x923 keV ). A short time-delay (1-7 microseconds) between the ionization and drawout pulses compensates for different initial kinetic energies of the ions, and is designed to improve mass resolution. Because this method required a very fast (40 ns) rise time pulse in the source region, it was convenient to place the ion source at ground potential, while the drift region floats at xe2x88x923 kV. The instrument was commercialized by Bendix Corporation as the model NA-2, and later by CVC Products (Rochester, N.Y.) as the model CVC-2000 mass spectrometer. The instrument has a practical mass range of 400 daltons and a mass resolution of {fraction (1/300)}, and is still commercially available.
There have been a number of variations on this instrument. Muga (TOFTEC, Gainsville) has described a velocity compaction technique for improving the mass resolution (Muga velocity compaction). Chatfield et al. (Chatfield FT-TOF) described a method for frequency modulation of gates placed at either end of the flight tube, and Fourier transformation to the time domain to obtain mass spectra. This method was designed to improve the duty cycle.
Cotter et al. (VanBreeman, R. B.: Snow, M.: Cotter, R. J., Int. J. Mass Spectrom. Ion Phys. 49 (1983) 35.; Tabet, J. C.; Cotter, R. J., Anal. Chem. 56 (1984) 1662; Olthoff, J. K.; Lys, I.: Demirev, P.: Cotter, R. J., Anal. Instrumen. 16 (1987) 93, modified a CVC 2000 time-of-flight mass spectrometer for infrared laser desorption of involatile biomolecules, using a Tachisto (Needham, Mass.) model 215G pulsed carbon dioxide laser. This group also constructed a pulsed liquid secondary time-of-flight mass spectrometer (liquid SIMS-TOF) utilizing a pulsed (1-5 microsecond) beam of 5 keV cesium ions, a liquid sample matrix, a symmetric push/pull arrangement for pulsed ion extraction (Olthoff, J. K.; Cotter, R. J., Anal. Chem. 59 (1987) 999-1002.; Olthoff, J. K.; Cotter, R. J., Nucl. Instrum. Meth. Phys. Res. B-26 (1987) 566-570. In both of these instruments, the time delay range between ion formation and extraction was extended to 5-50 microseconds, and was used to permit metastable fragmentation of large molecules prior to extraction from the source. This in turn reveals more structural information in the mass spectra.
The plasma desorption technique introduced by Macfarlane arid Torgerson in 1974 (Macfarlane, R. D.; Skowronski, R. P.; Torgerson, D. F., Biochem. Biophys. Res Commoun. 60 (1974) 616.) formed ions on a planar surface placed at a voltage of 20 kV. Since there are no spatial uncertainties, ions are accelerated promptly to their final kinetic energies toward a parallel, grounded extraction grid, and then travel through a grounded drift region. High voltages are used, since mass resolution is proportional to U o/;eV, where the initial kinetic energy, U 0/is of the order of a few electron volts. Plasma desorption mass spectrometers have been constructed at Rockefeller (Chait, B. T.; Field, F. H., J. Amer. Chem. Soc. 106 (1984) 193), Orsay (LeBeyec, Y.; Della Negra, S.; Deprun, C.; Vigny, P.; Giont, Y. M., Rev. Phys. Appl 15 (1980) 1631), Paris (Viari, A.; Ballini, J. P.; Vigny, P.; Shire, D.; Dousset, P., Biomed. Environ. Mass Spectrom, 14 (1987) 83), Upsalla (Hakansson, P.; Sundqvist B., Radiat. Eff. 61 (1982) 179) and Darmstadt (Becker, O.; Furstenau, N.; Krueger, F. R.; Weiss, G.; Wein, K., Nucl. Instrum. Methods 139 (1976) 195). A plasma desorption time-of-flight mass spectrometer has bee commercialized by BIO-ION Nordic (Upsalla, Sweden). Plasma desorption utilizes primary ion particles with kinetic energies in the MeV range to induce desorption/ionization. A similar instrument was constructed at Manitobe (Chain, B. T.; Standing, K. G., Int. J. Mass Spectrum. Ion Phys. 40 (1981) 185) using primary ions in the keV range, but has not been commercialized.
Matrix-assisted laser desorption, introduced by Tanaka et al. (Tanaka, K.; Waki, H.; Ido, Y.; Akita, S.; Yoshida, Y.; Yoshida, T., Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom. 2 (1988) 151) and by Karas and Hillenkamp (Karas, M.; Hillenkamp, F., Anal. Chem. 60 (1988) 2299) utilizes TOFMS to measure the molecular weights of proteins in excess of 100,000 daltons. An instrument constructed at Rockefeller (Beavis, R. C.; Chait, B. T., Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom. 3 (1989) 233) has been commercialized by VESTEC (Houston, Tex.), and employs prompt two-stage extraction of ions to an energy of 30 keV.
Time-of-flight instruments with a constant extraction field have also been utilized with multi-photon ionization, using short pulse lasers.
The instruments described thus far are linear time-of-flights, that is: there is no additional focusing after the ions are accelerated and allowed to enter the drift region. Two approaches to additional energy focusing nave been utilized: those which pass the ion beam through an electrostatic energy filter.
The reflectron (or ion mirror) was first described by Mamyrin (Mamyrin, B. A.; Karatajev. V. J.; Shmikk, D. V.; Zagulin, V. A., Sov. Phys., JETP 37 (1973) 45). At the end of the drift region, ions enter a retarding field from which they are reflected back through the drift region at a slight angle. Improved mass resolution results from the fact that ions with larger kinetic energies must penetrate the reflecting field more deeply before being turned around. These faster ions than catch up with the slower ions at the detector and are focused. Reflectrons were used on the laser microprobe instrument introduced by Hillenkamp et al. (Hillenkamp, F.; Kaufmann, R.; Nitsche, R.; Unsold, E., Appl. Phys. 8 (1975) 341) and commercialized by Leybold Hereaus as the LAMMA (LAser Microprobe Mass Analyzer). A similar instrument was also commercialized by Cambridge Instruments as the IA (Laser Ionization Mass Analyzer). Benninghoven (Benninghoven reflectron) has described a SIMS (secondary ion mass spectrometer) instrument that also utilizes a reflectron, and is currently being commercialized by Leybold Hereaus. A reflecting SIMS instrument has also been constructed by Standing (Standing, K. G.; Beavis, R.; Bollbach, G.; Ens, W.; Lafortune, F.; Main, D.; Schueler, B.; Tang, X.; Westmore, J. B., Anal. Instrumen. 16 (1987) 173).
Lebeyec (Della-Negra, S.; Lebeyec, Y., in Ion Formation from Organic Solids IFOS III, ed. by A. Benninghoven, pp 42-45, Springer-Verlag, Berlin (1986)) described a coaxial reflectron time-of-flight that reflects ions along the same path in the drift tube as the incoming ions, and records their arrival times on a channel-plate detector with a centered hole that allows passage of the initial (unreflected) beam. This geometry was also utilized by Tanaka et al. (Tanaka, K.; Waki, H.; Ido, Y.; Akita, S.; Yoshida, T., Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom. 2 (1988) 151) for matrix assisted laser desorption. Schlag et al. (Grotemeyer, J.; Schlag, E. W., Org. Mass Spectrom. 22 (1987) 758) have used a reflectron on a two-laser instrument. The first laser is used to ablate solid samples, while the second laser forms ions by multi-photon ionization. This instrument is currently available from Bruker. Wollnik et al. (Grix., R., Kutscher, R., Li, G., Gruner, U., Wollnik, H., Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom. 2 (1988) 83) have described the use of reflectrons in combination with pulsed ion extraction, and achieved mass resolutions as high as 20,000 for small ions produced by electron impact ionization.
An alternative to reflectrons is the passage of ions through an electrostatic energy filter, similar to that used in double-focusing sector instruments. This approach was first described by Poschenroeder (Poschenroeder, W., Int. J. Mass Spectrom. Ion Phys. 6 (1971) 413). Sakurai et al. (Sakuri, T.; Fujita, Y; Matsuo, T.; Matsuda, H; Katakuse, I., Int. J. Mass Spectrom. Ion Processes 66 (1985) 283) have developed a rime-of-flight instrument employing four electrostatic energy analyzers (ESA) in the time-of-flight path. At Michigan State, an instrument known as the ETOF was described that utilizes a standard ESA in the TOF analyzer (Michigan ETOF).
Lebeyec et al. (Della-Negra, S.; Lebeyec, Y., in Ion Formation from Organic Solids IFOS III, ed. by A. Benninghoven, pp 42-45, Springer-Verlag, Berlin (1986)) have described a technique known as correlated reflex spectra, which can provide information on the fragment ion arising from a selected molecular ion. In this technique, the neutral species arising from fragmentation in the flight tube are recorded by a detector behind the reflectron at the same flight time as their parent masses. Reflected ions are registered only when a neutral species is recorded within a preselected time window. Thus, the resultant spectra provide fragment ion (structural) information for a particular molecular ion. This technique has also been utilized by Standing (Standing, K. G.; Beavis, R.; Bollbach, G.; Ens, W.; Lafortune, F.; Main, D.; Schueler, B.; Tang, X.; Westmore, J. B., Anal. Instrumen. 16 (1987) 173).
A dual-reflectron time-of-flight mass spectrometer has been previously described in Cotter et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,202,563 and Cornish, T. J., and Cotter, R. J., Time-of-flight Mass Spectrometry, R. J. ed., American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C., 1994. In Cotter et al., the instrument described comprises an ion source wherein ions are generated and then accelerated towards a first reflectron. An electrostatic field generated by the energized reflectron reflects ions towards a second reflectron. Similarly, the second reflectron reflects ions toward an ion detector. Cotter et al. demonstrates that in one particular instance the mass resolving power of the time-of-flight mass spectrometer using two reflectrons is approximately double the resolving power of a time-of-flight mass spectrometer using only a single reflectron. Notably, however, the spectrometer described in Cotter et al. is limited to two reflections as only two reflectrons are used and these are positioned so that ions follow a Z shaped trajectory through the instrument. Also notable is the fact that neither of the reflectrons can be pulsed on or off in a microsecond time frame or less.
On the other hand, it has been suggested in Wollnik, H., Time-of-flight Mass Analyzers, Mass Spec. Rev., 1993, 12, p.109, that two reflectrons may be configured coaxially with respect to one another in such a way that ions can be reflected back and forth repeatedly between each other. (See also UK Patent Application No. 8120809, and German Patent No. 3025764, both to Hermann Wollnik). In a hypothetical instrument, Wollnik suggests that two reflectrons be placed coaxially with respect to one another, that an ion source be placed at one end of the instrument, and that a detector be placed at the other end. Ions would exit the ion source fully accelerated and pass through the first reflectron (reflectron 1) immediately adjacent to the sourcexe2x80x94which, at that moment, would be at ground potential.
After the ions have passed through reflectron 1, reflectron 1 is rapidly energized to a high potential. In contrast, the second reflectron (reflectron 2), the reflectron adjacent to the detector, is energized before and start of the analysis. While both reflectrons are energized, ions are repeatedly reflected back and forth between them. To conclude the analysis, reflectron 2 is rapidly deenergized to ground potential so that ions are then able to pass through it into the detector. However, Wollnik does not teach how a reflectron or similar device might be pulsed on or off.
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a means and method for operating a time-of-flight mass spectrometer so as to provide significantly improved mass resolution in comparison to the time-of-flight mass spectrometers of the prior art. This invention discloses a method and apparatus for a coaxial multiple reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometer. The improved resolution is accomplished by reflecting ions repeatedly between an xe2x80x9cacceleratorxe2x80x9d and a reflectron, one or both of which is equipped with a resistor-capacitor (RC) network that makes their rapid energizing and deenergizing possible.
Several references are related to the technology disclosed herein. For example, F. Hillenkamp, M. Karas, R. C. Beavis, B. T. Chait, Anal. Chem. 63(24), 1193A(1991); Wei Hang, Pengyuan Yag, Xiaoru Wang, Chenglong Yang, Yongxuan Su, and Benli Huang, Rapid Comm. Mass Spectrom. 8, 590(1994); A. N. Verentchikov, W. Ens, K. G. Standing, Anal.Chem. 66, 126(1994); J. H. J. Dawson, M. Guilhaus, Rapid Comm. Mass Spectrom. 3, 155(1989); M. Guilhaus, J. Am. Soc. Mass Spectrom. 5, 588(1994); E. Axelsson, L. Holmlid, Int. J. Mass Spectrom. Ion Process. 59, 231(1984); O. A. Mirgorodskaya, et al., Anal. Chem. 66, 99(1994); S. M. Michael, B. M. Chien, D. M. Lubman, Anal. Chem. 65, 2614(1993); W. C. Wiley, I. H. McLaren, Rev. Sci. Inst. 26(12), 1150(1955).
Additionally, Mamyrin et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,072,862 discloses a time-of-flight mass spectrometer whose analyzer chamber accommodates a pulsed ion source, an ion detector and an ion reflecting system, all disposed on one and the same ion optical axis. The ion detector and the ion reflecting system described in Mamyrin et al. are disposed on opposite sides of the ion source which comprises electrodes which are transparent to the ions being studied. However, the ion source of Mamyrin et al. is not designed in such a way as to be useful as a reflectron or reflecting device. On the other hand, the present invention describes an xe2x80x9cion acceleratorxe2x80x9d which is the equivalent of the ion source of Mamyrin et al. However, this ion accelerator is significantly longer along the axis of the analyzer, which leads to a significantly more uniform accelerating field and less distortion in the ion""s flight time and trajectory. Furthermore, Mamyrin et al. do not teach nor suggest any method of ion analysis via multiple passes through reflecting devices.
In articles by Wollnik et al., it is suggested that ion analysis be performed by multiple reflection. Wollnik et al., Time-of-Flight Mass Analyzers, Mass Spec. Rev., 1993, Vol. 12, p.89; and Wollnik et al., Spectral Analysis Based on Bipolar Time-Domain Sampling: A Multiplex Method for Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry, Anal. Chem., 1992, 64, p.1601. However, the articles fail to teach how this might be accomplished. Particularly, in Time-of-Flight Mass Analyzers, it is not taught how a reflectron may be xe2x80x9cswitched offxe2x80x9d quickly enough to be of any value in such a time-of-flight mass spectrometry analysis. The present invention, however, has solved this problem by using an RC network to control the energizing and deenergizing of the ion accelerator and reflectron.
Also, while Wollnik et al. do show a coaxial arrangement in FIG. 15 of Time-of-Flight Mass Analyzers, ion mirror 1 is not used for the initial ion acceleration. Rather, ions exiting the source have already been accelerated to the kinetic energy at which mass analysis is to occur. In contrast, the present invention has the ions enter the ion accelerator, a device equivalent to mirror 1, with a low kinetic energy (e.g. 10 eV) and are accelerated by the ion accelerator to a high energy (e.g. 10,000 eV), the energy at which mass analysis takes place. Thus, the ion accelerator of the present invention acts to initiate the mass analysis as well as to later serve as a reflection device (ion mirror).
Furthermore, in the case depicted in the Wollnik et al. reference above, both reflection devices must be pulsed. This is because Wollnik assumes the ion source is xe2x80x9cbehindxe2x80x9d mirror 1 and that ions are accelerated to their analysis energy in the source and not by mirror 1. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention neither of these assumptions is true. Ions are introduced into the ion accelerator from the side (hence the term orthogonal time-of-flight mass spectrometry) while the ion accelerator is deenergized.
Consequently, a detector can be placed behind the ion accelerator instead of behind the ion source. In this arrangement, to accelerate ions to their analysis energy, the ion accelerator is pulsed on. Then, to detect ions, the ion accelerator is deenergized or switched off so that ions can pass through it and into the above mentioned detector. Thus, in contrast to the time-of-flight mass spectrometer depicted in Wollnik, the present invention""s retleceron, which is an equivalent of Wollnik""s ion mirror 2, can be constantly energized.
Finally, Cotter et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,202,563 is notable but does not have any significant bearing on the present invention. While Cotter et al. employ multiple passes, the arrangement disclosed is not coaxial, and neither their reflectrons nor their ion source is pulsed.
The present invention relates generally to time-of-flight mass spectrometers. More specifically, this invention comprises an improved method and apparatus for analyzing ions using a time-of-flight mass spectrometer. In the present invention, two or more electrostatic reflectors are positioned coaxially with respect to one another such that ions generated by an ion source can be reflected back and forth between them. The first reflecting device is an ion accelerator whose function is two-fold. First, it acts as an accelerating device and provides the initial acceleration to the ions received from the ion source. Second, it acts as a reflecting device and reflects the ions in the subsequent mass analysis. The second reflecting device is a reflectron which acts only to reflect ions in such a manner that all ions of a given mass-to-charge ratio have substantially the same flight time through the analyzer. During the ion analysis, the ions are reflected back and forth between the accelerator and reflectron multiple times. Then, at the end of the ion analysis, either of the reflecting devices, preferably the ion accelerator, is rapidly deenergized to allow the ions to pass through that reflecting device and into a detector.
By reflecting the analyte ions back and forth between the accelerator and the reflectron several times, a much longer flight path can be achieved in a given size spectrometer than could otherwise be achieved using the time-of-flight mass spectrometers disclosed in the prior art. Consequently, the mass resolving power of the time-of-flight mass spectrometer of the present invention is substantially greater than that of the prior art.
Other objects, features, and characteristics of the present invention, as well as the methods of operation and functions of the related elements of the structure, and the combination of parts and economies of manufacture, will become more apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings, all of which form a part of this specification.